Found (End of First Arc)

After Jing Hai left with his friend, Chang Liuyun busied himself by packing and sorting all the things they had bought on their shopping trip.

For anyone else, this would have been a daunting task to complete, but fortunately or unfortunately, Chang Liuyun had a lot of experience.

13 whole years without break in fact.

So he was able to neatly load all their luggage while keeping everything secure and leaving room to more or less sit comfortably.

Although he couldn't help recalling those 13 years of his life going through these familiar motions, and considering that he estimated his age to be around 17 or 18 that was the majority of his time on this earth, while also being nothing but horrible for him.

Sure, Chang Liuyun was still glad for the life skills he had picked up because of it, especially since they came in unexpectedly handy when you were trying to escape by horse carriage as fast as possible.

But it was still a burden, always on the back of his mind, a nagging fear that kept him alert at all times even if he didn't want to.

Even now, he was beyond thorough in his preparation.

Triple-checking that the horses were adequately secured to both the carriage and forge and placing the various artifacts in inconspicuous corners all around the carriage in case of an emergency.

It might seem overly careful to some, but through his years of travel, Chang Liuyun had learned to be overprepared rather than under.

Too often he was forced to jump up in the middle of the night to fend off a demon beast that had or was about to pounce at him while he slept, only to end up having to desperately wrestle it to the ground and choke it to death because there was not a single weapon to be found. Not even a simple rock.

All while Huo Dong stood at the sidelines and watched him, cackling, sometimes even howling with laughter when he took an especially harsh beating, with absolutely no intentions of stepping in.

Sometimes, it felt like Huo Dong deliberately lured beasts to their camp and hid all weapons to torment him for fun...

He had been mere moments from returning to such a lifestyle yesterday, if not worse.

Just thinking about it made cold sweat run down Chang Liuyun's back, goosebumps covering his entire body, his breath quickening.

Huo Dong had made it clear that he was very unsatisfied with Chang Liuyun's attempt at escape, which had also displeased his buyers.

And he conveyed this to Chang Liuyun through a rigorous beating that had lasted at least an hour, although Huo Dong took care to mostly avoid his face, focusing instead on Chang Liuyun's back and legs.

Now, Chang Liuyun's body was covered in deep blue bruises, in addition to a black eye and a still pretty gnarly-looking busted lip.

His bones and muscles were still dully aching, reminding him to be obedient and not disobey Huo Dong again.

Acting as the warning that Huo Dong had planned it to be, even when the other wasn't even here at the moment.

Alone the possibility of the other appearing made Chang Liuyun shake in fear and vigilantly glance around his surroundings.

This swelling sense of panic was only lessened when Chang Liuyun took a deep breath and tightly pressed his fist into the palm of his other hand, feeling the smooth, warm metal with the orb on top pressing against his sweaty skin.

They had escaped, soon they would flee never to encounter Huo Dong ever again.

Things were looking up.

But despite trying his best to stay calm, Chang Liuyun's heart still felt ill at ease.

Concluding that moving and doing something, anything, was better than standing around, left to the mercy of his very own thoughts, Chang Liuyun went to check everything once more, from the supplies, luggage, weapons, hor-

...clack...clack...clack...

Chang Liuyun froze, his stomach dropping, unmoving for but a moment before hastily reaching into a gap in front of him and pulling out a battle axe.

The footsteps he heard clearly belonged to a group of at least 4 people.

Tightening his muscles, and straining his ears for any more sounds, Chang Liuyun quietly moved to the edge of the carriage and peeked around.

The street was empty but Chang Liuyun wasn't foolish enough to let down his guard because of that, instead, he gripped the leather hilt of the axe tighter and even grabbed one more artifact in the form of a throwing knife.

As soon as he had a good hold on the throwing knife, Chang Liuyun put some of his Qi inside and threw it in the direction he last heard some movements from.

The knife hit the wall diagonally across the corner before exploding into several tiny shards the next second.

"ARGHHH, MY EYE!"

A sudden scream sounded from behind the corner, cutting through the silent tension in the side alley behind the forge and acting as the start signal for the other hidden attackers.

They jumped out, all four of them rushing toward Chang Liuyun, several shards stuck in their body and staining their robes.

And to Chang Liuyun's surprise, it was four familiar faces.

The mercenary group that had tried to steal his and Lei Mingxing's kill a few weeks ago.

Minus the leader, but even he stumbled out a bit later, covering his eye, blood streaming down his face with a hateful expression.

But Chang Liuyun didn't care, throwing a few more knives while also blocking the mercenary that was first to reach him.

The knives exploded once more, forcing the mercenaries to dodge and cover their more vulnerable body parts.

Their arms and legs were still covered in many sharp shards but it was better than their leader who had directly lost an eye.

The only one who wasn't able to brace himself in time was the mercenary attacking Chang Liuyun, getting several shards stuck deeply into his back, yelping in pain. But thanks to his sacrifice, Chang Liuyun hadn't even suffered a single scratch, completely unharmed.

As thanks, Chang Liuyun pushed the mercenary away before hacking down on the mercenary's neck with all his might.

Blood spurted and the mercenary dropped his weapon in shock, stumbling back several steps while clutching his heavily bleeding neck, ultimately collapsing.

It was then that Chang Liuyun noticed a strange detail.

All of the mercenaries had only one hand!

Obviously, at their first meeting, they still had both...

Agitated by their colleague's death, the other mercenaries didn't spare another second, closing in on Chang Liuyun, from different angles this time, to avoid another attack by the throwing knives.

Realizing that he was about to be surrounded, Chang Liuyun injected some of his Qi into the axe and threw it while retreating several steps, reaching into yet another crevice of the carriage.

The mercenary that the axe was aimed at, raised her broadsword to block the attack threatening to hit her chest. 

But the moment the axe met the blade of her sword, the mercenary realized that something was wrong before getting pushed back several steps, as if she had been hit by a boulder. In the end, she was barely able to deflect the axe by flicking her blade downwards at an angle and diverting it.

Unfortunately, that only caused the axe to change trajectory and fly at one of her teammates instead. The other wasn't able to react in time and got hit in the stomach.

Screaming in pain, the mercenary with the axe's blade still buried deep in his stomach fell back and spit up blood.

This meant that there were only three mercenaries left to fight Chang Liuyun who already had two new artifacts in hand.

The old Counter Shield and a saber.

He was just about to enter the fight for real now and face these more or less fair odds, when a cold shower ran down his spine and unconsciously hopped aside and ducked behind his shield.

Clang!

A heavy strike hit the metal surface of the shield but thanks to Chang Liuyun's quick reflexes, the attack was blocked and rebounded at the attacker, but the same couldn't be said for the fist bypassing the shield and directly punching his stomach.

It felt like all air was forced out of Chang Liuyun's lungs as he stumbled back.

But before he could catch himself again, another punch connected, crashing into his skull like a cast iron hammer.

Chang Liuyun flew back several meters, almost falling to the ground if it wasn't for a wall.

Dizzy, his head spinning, Chang Liuyun leaned against the wall and tried his best to focus his vision, shakingly pushing against the cool bricks behind him to help him get back on his feet.

No one attacked him despite his vulnerable state, but that just made Chang Liuyun even more uneasy.

"Your buyers cancelled the deal."

Chang Liuyun's hot rushing blood instantly froze to ice upon hearing these words and his whirling thoughts stilled.

He began to shake.

Trembling in fear, horror spreading over his face.

Finally, his eyes refocused but it didn't help him calm down in the slightest.

Huo Dong was staring directly at him.

The three remaining mercenaries were also unmovingly glaring at Chang Liuyun, obviously aching to tear him limb from limb.

But Chang Liuyun almost directly ignored them, no, compared to the current Huo Dong, their animosity was more like a gentle breeze.

Because Chang Liuyun knew this expression.

He had seen it several times.

His breathing hitched as a terror gripped his heart he had never felt before.

"I lost some of my best customers and my reputation because of you," Huo Dong stated coldly.

But his calm voice stood in stark contrast to his, by anger and hate, contorted face.

Chang Liuyun shook like a leaf in a storm with eyes akin to a rabbit facing a starving tiger.

"So, I'll have you settle this debt."

Chang Liuyun's hearing gave out.

He pushed himself off the wall and began desperately running.

Randomly sprinting through the streets.

Although he couldn't hear his pursuers, he instinctively knew that they were right behind him and they would hunt him down no matter what.

And when they did, he would die.

He would die a death so gruesome, that no one would ever be able to recognize him, with his skin removed, his ligaments cut and his tongue ripped out...

Huo Dong enjoyed it when the cries of his victims were distorted into a shadow of their former selves.

Running even faster, Chang Liuyun's heart drummed against his chest as sweat poured down his face.

But ultimately, it was for naught as a wooden scabbard accurately hit the back of his knee and he fell to the ground with a by his gasps muffled scream.

Scrambling to get up, Chang Liuyun hastily let go of the artifacts he had still been holding onto.

But even before he could try to push himself up and continue running, a foot heavily stepped on his back, pressing him back down into the dirty street.

Grinding the edge of his heels into Chang Liuyun's back, Huo Dong whispered almost to himself:

"Instead of uselessly complicating things, you should have let yourself be sold."

These words entered Chang Liuyun's ears loud and clear, amplifying the desperation and terror he felt.

Tears unconsciously trickled over the bridge of his nose, flowing into his other pressed-shut eye before wetting the ground beneath him.

He had been right there.

Only a few minutes later and he would have escaped Huo Dong forever.

Chang Liuyun heard the high jingling of metals hitting each other.

It took him only a moment to realize that the familiar jingling was caused by Huo Dong taking out his pouch of rusty and dull medical knives.

Screams rose to his throat without him even realizing it.

Crying for help as he tried to get away once more.

Scratching the ground with his fingers and pushing against Huo Dong's leg in an attempt to free himself, but that only ended in Duo Hong grabbing his hair and yanking his head up.

Pain left him breathless as his scalp burned and his back twisted painfully.

Raising his hands to claw at Huo Dong's arm and make him let go, Chang Liuyun froze when he suddenly felt a scratchy touch at his cheeks.

His eyes widened and his entire focus shifted to the rusty knife mere centimeters away from his right eye.

He didn't move, didn't even breathe.

Only staring at the knife.

Huo Dong chuckled.

"Now you're finally well-behaved... well, let's enjoy this..."

Slowly, Huo Dong pressed down the tip of the knife, admiring Chang Liuyun's face paralyzed in fear.

But that was also the reason he didn't notice when suddenly an arm flew in from the side and knocked up his elbow, forcing him to let go of Chang Liuyun's hair before another punch landed squarely in his face

This last punch caused Huo Dong to fly through the air and crash heavily into the nearest wall, almost burying him inside it.

Meanwhile, Chang Liuyun slumped to the ground again, gasping for air, but before he could catch his breath the person who had suddenly appeared pulled him up from the ground, making him stand straight.

And when he finally stood on his feet, the other person brushed up his hair, revealing Chang Liuyun's confused face.

Only a few seconds later, Shao Tianyu began to smile widely, pulling Chang Liuyun into a tight hug.

"I finally found you!"

Chang Liuyun froze in Shao Tianyu's so overly friendly hug.

Lei Mingxing had told him the other's true identity, but this made Shao Tianyu's action that more puzzling.

Why was the Crown Prince of Huoli State hugging him?!

But before Chang Liuyun could think too long about that, the sound of crumbling stone announced the return of Huo Dong.

He looked up and saw Huo Dong rushing towards them, passing the either unconscious or dead mercenaries on the ground with a raised sword.

Chang Liuyun wanted to cry out a warning but even before he could force out a single sound, Shao Tianyu calmly let go of him and stretched out one arm.

With a flick of his wrist, an invisible blade separated Huo Dong's head from his neck in one smooth movement.

Unceremoniously ending his life.

For a brief moment, it felt like the whole world turned silent as Chang Liuyun watched Huo Dong's head fly through the air before falling to the ground and rolling several more meters away.

It took him a few seconds to react and open his mouth.

"Wha-"

But before he could string together even a simple, confused 'What?', a choir of screams interrupted him.

The screams also prompted Shao Tianyu to whip his head around in the direction of the town plaza, but instead of seeming surprised or scared, he just clicked his tongue with a quiet 'Already, huh...'.

He then turned around to Chang Liuyun with a wry smile.

"I don't think you would want to see this."

With these words, Shao Tianyu struck Chang Liuyun's neck, knocking him unconscious.